HOLDEN

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=toc= =Final Draft= Gage Holden English 103 December 5, 2010

Dystopia or Utopia: Bias and Propaganda The art of manipulation has slowly been refined and modified as culture has changed and methods have been countered. Both the arts and sciences have resulted in the creation and advancement of these techniques, and these techniques have been used for both entertainment and to control the actions of others. Propaganda, when broadly defined, (check the etymology) encompasses all manipulative applications of art and communication. Propaganda has been used to influence elections, create wars, induce anger, and control the minds of the people. As a result propaganda has quickly become seen entirely as a negative, its positive uses forgotten. **Propaganda in turn has been forgotten, and now many fail to notice when propaganda is being used on them in an effective manner. Propaganda is an unavoidable part of society and it must not be forgotten, but instead it must be seen, understood and interpreted. Understanding propaganda allows the viewer to take control of the propagandas influence and change how it affects them.**

Propaganda has been used to do many horrible things throughout the course of history; it's been used by dictators and deviants to modify the feelings of the populace in ways disapproved of by many. (any historical examples you could briefly cite?) As a result the countries that have had to see the consequences of propaganda have begun to view it entirely as mind control. Many pieces have been written with this view, but all of these have the tendency to forget that they themselves are a piece of propaganda. Many dystopias present propaganda at an extreme. The goal of presenting it in that way is to make propaganda seem as if it will inevitably control everything. They do this while trying to influence the reader into believing their own personal beliefs. Aldous Huxley's __Brave New World__ features propaganda primarily in the form of Hypnopaedia, or sleep teaching. A series of phrases and idioms featuring the government’s socially acceptable beliefs and ideals (such as? be specific and cite a few) are repeated thousands upon thousands of times into the ears of sleeping children in order to both convince the children of these beliefs and to, in turn, get them to continuously reinforce these beliefs into the other members of society. This reinforcement is created through oral repetition of the statements induced by Hypnopaedia's introduction of the statements into their vernacular. This constant repetition creates a positive association for the contents of the statement inducing others within the society to be more likely to follow it.

This is based on an actual belief of propagandists that has been proven with regularity by psychologists: There is no doubt that one human being can affect and even persuade another through communication under certain circumstances. All communication, no matter how insignificant (even a brief "Hi!") leaves a mark on the receiver. Communication specialist Wilbur Schramm likens the effect to calcareous water dripping on a stalagmite. Occasionally drop leaves an especially large deposit, but generally it merely contributes to the imperceptible growth of the spur. (Martin 63)
 * The continuous construction of these mental stalagmites is the basis of propaganda and it is proven to work**. This theory is regularly implemented in schools, religion, and advertising in order to teach people the "proper" ways to behave, think, and act. They constantly reinforce things subliminally in order to enforce certain elements of their social structures. Advertisers base much of their job around trying to present possible buyers with their product as frequently as possible so that they will be more likely to purchase their product over the competitors. Huxley takes this concept to an extreme in order to create a fear and repulsion of propaganda, though he and many of his fellow writers use this concept to create the fear and repulsion.

Yevgeny Zamyatin's __We__ is a dystopian novel frequently credited with the creation of the genre. This novel's treatment of propaganda is fascinating. The novels protagonist and narrator is in fact writing a piece of propaganda, which is in turn the novel itself. The government of the novel's world is intending to discover (and subjugate) alien life using their currently being constructed space ship. As a result they request all citizens to write propaganda that will be sent to these intelligent life forms aboard the ship: “If they won't understand that we bring them mathematically infallible happiness, it will be our duty to force them to be happy. But before resorting to arms, we will employ the word” (Zamyatin 1). The novel is written as one of these pieces of propaganda, which in turn draws the reader's attention to the fact that the novel is itself a piece of propaganda. This awareness allows the reader to be influenced not by the subjects spoken against explicitly in the novel, but instead by the overall distaste for the acceptance of propaganda as life and the homogenization of individuals. This allows __We__ to make its points without resorting to __Brave New World’s__ explicitly negative vocabulary and dependence on shocking readers with repulsive imagery.

__Brave New World__ primarily tries to encourage behaviors other than those presented in the novel through a combination of parody and stealthy denunciation. “Denunciation” is a term used by Jean-Marie Domenach to describe certain types of Leninist propaganda. Denunciation is defined as creating a negative association that should lead the viewer of said propaganda to the conclusion that the author intends (Domenach 266). Aldous Huxley does this continuously throughout Brave New World. He attempts to do this regularly with genetic engineering by presenting the extremes: The liftman was a small simian creature, dressed in the black tunic of an Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron. "Roof!" He flung open the gates. The warm glory of afternoon sunlight made him start and blink his eyes. "Oh, roof!" he repeated in a voice of rapture. He was as though suddenly and joyfully awakened from a dark annihilating stupor. "Roof!" He smiled up with a kind of doggily expectant adoration into the faces of his passengers. Talking and laughing together, they stepped out into the light. The liftman looked after them. (Huxley 70) Here Huxley is presenting an extreme of genetic engineering that is an undeniably disturbing enslaved creature. This creature was produced by the World State to be a slave to the higher echelons of society; it is dim witted, knows little other than how to work the elevator, and is almost not a human any longer. This disturbing image creates such a negative feeling that the reader can't help but start to feel at least a bit more negatively towards genetic engineering, and in turn Huxley accomplishes his goal. He influences the bias of the reader through the use of negative and disturbing imagery. Bias is what allows propaganda as a whole to work.

Bias affects all human communication, and as a result influencing a single individual with propaganda can result in the biases of many being altered. Prejudice is a bias that has heavily influenced culture as a whole and produced works that have been heavily prejudice. The transfer of information between humans is undeniably influenced by prejudice: Social psychologists Gordon Allport and Leo Postman (1745) (is this a date? source unclear, not listed - mentioned in another source?) performed a study of rumor transmission in which they showed to a number of people a drawing of two men arguing on a train. One man was well-dressed. The other was not so well-dressed and was holding a razor. The man with the razor was white and the other man was black. One person was asked to look at the picture and then describe it to another person, who in turn would describe it to another, and so on. Allport and Postman found that in over half of the chains of people who played this experimental version of the game “telephone” the razor was transferred to the hand of the black man by the time the information had reached the last person. (Silverstein 52) Bias among the individuals was considered to be the cause of this transfer, and this study showed that bias can affect the transfer of information, and in turn the bias of those who hear the information. At some point in each group of individuals someone's prejudice changed the hand that held the razor, resulting in the rest of the people having their bias influenced. Brave New World’s society enforces caste biases through its use of Hypnopaedia. Views are constructed in the schools and then reinforced by individuals in the society and Hypnopaedic knowledge that induces them to dislike the colors of the other caste's clothing (Huxley). Biases can, however, be good and bad. Arguably positive biases are being created every day through various forms of propaganda. Recycling has been a subject of positive propaganda for a while now and cigarette companies have had to start constructing negative ad campaigns against themselves in order to influence people not to buy their products by creating biases against cigarettes. Propaganda is simply the attempt to influence biases within individuals.

Is the world presented by Huxley truly a dystopia? It is arguable. His presentation of the “World State” undeniably places it as such, but if the elements are separated from his bias and many of the society’s decisions could be considered positive. The difference between a utopia and a dystopia is created by the biases the world is evaluated with and the tone with which the presenter presents it. All propaganda suffers from this fact, and it has been found that the readers prior experience heavily influences the strength of propaganda's influence on an individual: “The effectiveness of propaganda is increased if its message fulfills a need or an aspiration of its target and if it agrees with existing values, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, norms-or whatever one would like to call them-of the audience” (Martin 67). This is from an evaluation of the effectiveness of propaganda on individuals. (this follow up to the citation is a bit weak, self-evident - why not discuss now this passage applies to the way hypnopedia is used?) It is found that the number of variables impacting the response to propaganda is vast and depends heavily on the viewer’s response. This is even stronger in the case of something like Huxley that is very clearly aimed at individuals similar to him. As a result some find the world **created** by Huxley, though __not__ the one **presented** by Huxley, (what distinction are you making here?) to be a utopia, with the world being a logical arrangement of people that achieves the goal of survival in what some consider the best way. These individuals likely change little from reading the novel and may even be angered by some of the author’s goals. To others, like Huxley himself, __Brave New World__ is the worst possible conclusion for humanity. Bias is what makes a dystopia dystopic.

Realizing that propaganda is based on personal biases enables one to start to counteract the effects of propaganda. It enables one to study why the propaganda is affecting them and what biases they may personally have. A criticizer of The Institute for Propaganda Analysis after its suspension during WWII pointed out that this could possibly be done for society as a whole: Analysis of antidemocratic propaganda must be made in terms of total social context, not only because this is a more enlightened approach than the piecemeal dissection into sterile rules and tricks, but because only this approach can provide us with effective means of dealing with the disease at its roots. The answer to a propaganda of fear must lie in the removal of the causes of fear. Propaganda appealing to the despairing can find no roots in the hopeful. (Garber 245) It can be discovered through the effectiveness of propaganda what biases exist within the people it affects. A propaganda that takes advantage of someone's fear or prejudice can be reverse engineered to discover what the fear or prejudice originally was. Whether the propaganda be dependent on racism, such as much of the propaganda during WWII, or dependent on the cuteness of polar bears propaganda can reveal much about the audience it is used against.

Propaganda permeates the entirety of communication. It is nearly impossible for a message to not in some way influence the receiver. As a result the creator of a message must be aware of the possible effects and the receiver of the message must approach it with knowledge of how the creator could be influencing them. Whether it's an ad trying to get the viewers to buy a product, a professor trying to convince students of their line of thinking, a musician singing about what they value most, or a politician’s speech it is creating a bias in the viewer whether it’s the intention or not. The only way to prevent these biases from influencing one in a negative way is for that person to be aware of the biases and how they work so that they can in turn control them.

Works Cited Block, Ralph. “Propaganda and the Free Society.” //The Public Opinion Quarterly// 12.4 (1948-1949): 677-686. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Domenach, Jean-Marie. “Leninist Propaganda.” //The Public Opinion Quarterly// 15.2 (1951): 265-273. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Garber, William. “Propaganda Analysis-To What Ends?” //The American Journal of Sociology// 48 (Sept. 1942): 240-245. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Huxley, Aldous. //Brave New World//. 1946. New York: Random House, 1932. Print.

Martin, L. John. “Effectiveness of International Propaganda.” //Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science// 398 (Nov. 1971): 61-70. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Silverstein, Brett. “Toward a Science of Propaganda.” //Political Psychology// 8 (Mar. 1987): 49-59. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. //A Soviet Heretic: Essays by Yevgeny Zamyatin//. Illus. Yury Annenkov. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970. Print.

- - -. //We//. Trans. Natasha Randall. New York: Random house, 2006. Print.

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=Second Draft=

Dystopia or Utopia: Bias and Propaganda The art of manipulation has slowly been refined and modified as culture has changed and methods have been countered. Both the arts and sciences have resulted in the creation and advancement of these techniques, and these techniques have been used for both entertainment and to control the actions of others. Propaganda, when broadly defined, encompasses all manipulative applications of art and communication. Propaganda has been used to influence elections, create wars, induce anger, and control the minds of the people. As a result propaganda has quickly become seen entirely as a negative, its positive uses forgotten. Propaganda in turn has been forgotten, and now many fail to notice when propaganda is being used on them in an effective manner. Propaganda is an unavoidable part of society and it must not be forgotten, but instead must be seen, understood and interpreted. Understanding propaganda allows the viewer to take control of the propagandas influence and change how it affects them.

Propaganda has been used to do many horrible things throughout the course of history. As a result the countries that have had to see the consequences of propaganda have begun to view it entirely as mind control. Many pieces have been written with this view, but all of these have the tendency to forget that they themselves are a piece of propaganda. Many dystopias present propaganda at an extreme as to make it seem that the inevitable consequence of propaganda will be that it will be used to control everyone and everything. They do this while trying to influence the reader into believing their own personal beliefs. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World features propaganda primarily in the form of Hypnopaedia, or sleep teaching. A series of phrases and idioms featuring the government’s socially acceptable beliefs and ideals are repeated thousands upon thousands of times into the ears of sleeping children in order to both convince the children of these beliefs and in turn get them to continuously reinforce these beliefs into the other members of society. (Cite Brave New World correctly here)

This is based on an actual belief of propagandists that has been proven with regularity by psychologists: There is no doubt that one human being can affect and even persuade another through communication under certain circumstances. All communication, no matter how insignificant (even a brief "Hi!") leaves a mark on the receiver. Communication specialist Wilbur Schramm likens the effect to calcareous water dripping on a stalagmite. Occasionally drop leaves an especially large deposit, but generally it merely contributes to the imperceptible growth of the spur. The continuous construction of these mental stalagmites is the basis of propaganda and it is proven to work. This theory is regularly implemented in schools, religion, and advertising in order to teach people the proper ways to behave, think, and act. Huxley takes this concept to an extreme in order to create a fear and repulsion of propaganda, though he himself is using this concept to create the fear and repulsion.

Yevgeny Zamyatin's __We__ is a dystopian novel frequently credited with the creation of the genre. This novels treatment of propaganda is fascinating. The novels protagonist and narrator is in fact writing a piece of propaganda, which is in turn the novel itself. The “State Gazette” of the novels world requests this in order to convince any other intelligent form of life of their logic: “If they won't understand that we bring them mathematically infallible happiness, it will be our duty to force them to be happy. But before resorting to arms, we will employ the word.” (Cite We correctly here!) This awareness of propaganda draws attention to the fact that the novel is a piece of propaganda itself, and in turn allows the reader to be influenced not by the subjects spoken against explicitly in the novel, but instead by the overall distaste for the acceptance of propaganda as life and the homogenization of individuals. This allows __We__ to make its points without resorting to __Brave New World’s__ explicitly negative vocabulary and dependence on shocking the expected readers with what was considered to be repulsive imagery.

__Brave New World__ primarily tries to encourage behaviors other than those presented in the novel through a combination of parody and stealthy denunciation. “Denunciation” is a term used by Jean-Marie Domenach to describe certain types of Leninist propaganda. Denunciation is defined as creating a negative association that should lead the viewer of said propaganda to the conclusion that the author intends (Cite Lenin Here). Aldous Huxley does this continuously throughout Brave New World. He attempts to do this regularly with genetic engineering by presenting the extremes: The liftman was a small simian creature, dressed in the black tunic of an Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron. "Roof!" He flung open the gates. The warm glory of afternoon sunlight made him start and blink his eyes. "Oh, roof!" he repeated in a voice of rapture. He was as though suddenly and joyfully awakened from a dark annihilating stupor. "Roof!" He smiled up with a kind of doggily expectant adoration into the faces of his passengers. Talking and laughing together, they stepped out into the light. The liftman looked after them. Here Huxley is presenting an extreme of genetic engineering that is an undeniably disturbing enslaved creature. This disturbing image creates such a negative feeling that the reader can't help but start to feel at least a bit more negatively towards genetic engineering, and in turn Huxley accomplishes his goal. He influences the bias of the reader through the use of negative and disturbing imagery.

Bias is what allows propaganda as a whole to work. Prejudice is a bias that has heavily influenced culture as a whole and produced works that have been heavily influenced by prejudice. The transfer of information between humans is undeniably influenced by prejudice: Social psychologists Gordon Allport and Leo Postman (1745) performed a study of rumor transmission in which they showed to a number of people a drawing of two men arguing on a train. One man was well-dressed. The other was not so well-dressed and was holding a razor. The man with the razor was white and the other man was black. One person was asked to look at the picture and then describe it to another person, who in turn would describe it to another, and so on. Allport and Postman found that in over half of the chains of people who played this experimental version of the game “telephone” the razor was transferred to the hand of the black man by the time the information had reached the last person. Bias among the individuals was considered to be the cause of this transfer, and this study showed that bias can affect the transfer of information, and in turn the bias of those who hear the information. Brave New World’s society enforces caste biases through its use of Hypnopaedia. Biases can, however, be good and bad. Arguably positive biases are being created every day through various forms of propaganda. Recycling has been a subject of various types of propaganda for an extended period of time, and cigarette companies have had to start constructing negative ad campaigns against themselves in order to influence people not to buy their products by creating biases against cigarettes. Propaganda is simply the attempt to influence biases within individuals.

Is the world presented by Huxley truly a dystopia? It is arguable. His presentation of the “World State” undeniably places it as such, but if the elements are separated many of the society’s decisions could be considered positive. The difference between a utopia and a dystopia is created by the biases the world is evaluated with. All propaganda suffers from this fact, and it has been found that the readers prior experience heavily influences the strength of propaganda's influence on an individual: “The effectiveness of propaganda is increased if its message fulfills a need or an aspiration of its target and if it agrees with existing values, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, norms-or whatever one would like to call them-of the audience.”(cite effectiveness) This is from an evaluation of the effectiveness of propaganda on individuals. It is found that the number of variables impacting the response to propaganda is vast and depends heavily on the viewer’s response. This is even stronger in the case of something like Huxley that is very clearly aimed at individuals similar to him. As a result some find the world presented by Huxley to be a utopia, with the world being a logical arrangement of people that achieves the goal of survival in what some consider the best way. These individuals likely gain little from reading the novel and may even be angered by some of the author’s goals. To others, like Huxley himself, the world is the worst possible conclusion for humanity. Bias is what makes a dystopia a dystopia.

Realizing that propaganda is based on personal biases enables one to start to counteract the effects of propaganda. In turn it enables one to study why the propaganda is affecting them and what biases they may personally have. A criticizer of The Institute for Propaganda Analysis after its suspension during WWII pointed out that this could possibly be done for society as a whole: Analysis of antidemocratic propaganda must be made in terms of total social context, not only because this is a more enlightened approach than the piecemeal dissection into sterile rules and tricks, but because only this approach can provide us with effective means of dealing with the disease at its roots. The answer to a propaganda of fear must lie in the removal of the causes of fear. Propaganda appealing to the despairing can find no roots in the hopeful. If can be discovered through the effectiveness of propaganda what biases exist within the people it affects. Whether the propaganda be dependent on racism such as much of the propaganda during WWII or dependent on the cuteness of polar bears propaganda can reveal much about the audience it is used against.

Propaganda permeates the entirety of communication. It is nearly impossible for a message to not in some way influence the receiver. As a result the creator of a message must be aware of the possible effects and the receiver of the message must approach it with knowledge of how the creator could be influencing them. Whether it's an ad trying to get the viewers to buy a product, a professor trying to convince students of their line of thinking, a musician singing about what they value most, or a politician’s speech it is creating a bias in the viewer whether it’s the intention or not. The only way to prevent these biases from influencing one in a negative way is for that person to be aware of the biases and how they work so that they can in turn control them.

=First Draft= Dystopia or Utopia: Value Systems and Propaganda  The art of manipulation has slowly been refined and modified as culture has changed and methods have been countered. The arts introduced new ways of manipulating people. These were used for both entertainment and to influence people to do what the creator intended. Using art to influence people eventually became know as propaganda. Propaganda has been used to influence elections, wars, and the behavior of individuals in general. As a result people now associate propaganda with being an entirely negative part of society, but forget about its positive uses. Propaganda cannot be written off as a negative or a positive but instead must be seen as a necessary and unavoidable part of society.

 Dystopias almost always presents propaganda as a negative, and more often than not show it at its extreme. In the case of Aldous Huxley’s __Brave New World__  propaganda is presented in the form of Hypnopaedia. Hypnopaedia is a form of conditioning used in Brave New World that consists primarily of sleep teaching. A series of phrases are repeated thousands upon thousands of times into the sleeping ears of the societies children and are in turn spouted by the masses turning every individual into a propaganda enforcing machine. It is called by one of the higher level members of the novels society “the greatest moralizing and socializing force of all time.” Hypnopaedia is propaganda taken to an extreme. It is intended to be so extreme that the reader can’t help but be appalled at the idea of propaganda.

 Yevgeny Zamyatin’s __We__  is another dystopian novel that arguably created the dystopian genre as a whole and inspired the authors of many famous novels such as __1984__  and some claim __Brave New World__ . The protagonist and narrator of the novel is writing a piece of propaganda, which is in turn the novel itself. He intends the propaganda to be sent to another society that should, in his mind, be so impressed by the world he lives in that they will instantaneously convert themselves to his society and be what he has been taught is the proper way of being happy. In __We__  the government has control of all media and also most human interactions. As a result everything in the society is propaganda intended to support the “One State” in its position of power and its eventual goal of the destruction of any and all individuality. Propaganda in this novel is again presented at an extreme so that it can be seen as an evil, though it has an interesting approach that points out a flaw in the association of propaganda with mind control.

 What <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__We__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">'s use of propaganda as a medium draws attention to is the fact that <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__We__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, and all dystopias, are pieces of propaganda themselves. They both are written with the intention of decrying or drawing attention to the things the author wishes the reader to despise or avoid. Both novels are trying to convince the reader of the authors opinions and trying to encourage behaviours different than those presented in the novel itself. This is done primarily through some arguably stealthy denunciation. “Denunciation” is a term used by Jean-Marie Domenach to describe certain types of Leninist propaganda. This type of propaganda is defined as creating an association that should lead the viewer of said propaganda to the conclusion the author intends. Aldous Huxley does this throughout <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Brave New World__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. He takes something he dislikes or has a distaste for, such as genetic engineering, and takes what can be considered the most negative or disturbing possibility and in turn presents it to the reader. As a result genetic engineering in its entirety starts to become associated with this most extreme and negative example, resulting in the effect that Huxley most likely intended. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__We__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> uses similar tactics, such as its focus on anti-conformism. In <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__We__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> a world is presented that encourages conformism to such an extraordinary extent that no one, except possibly a few particularly mathematical individuals, could possibly find it reasonable. This draws the readers attention to conformity, and can cause the reader to start to think more negatively of any time they conform with anything, which is what seems to be the authors goal. The two novels use common propaganda techniques to enforce their goals, and in the case of <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Brave New World__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> it worked to such an extent that it is regularly used by teachers around the country to introduce the same thoughts in their students. The authors both created pieces that were heavily biased towards their opinions in order to attempt to change their readers opinions of the subjects.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Bias is what allows propaganda as a whole to work. Prejudice is a bias that has heavily influenced culture as a whole and produced works that have been heavily influenced by prejudice propaganda. The transfer of information between humans is undeniably influenced by prejudice: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Social psychologists Gordon Allport and Leo Postman (1745) performed a study of rumor transmission in which they showed to a number of people a drawing of two men arguing on a train. One man was well-dressed. The other was not so well-dressed and was holding a razor. The man with the razor was white and the other man was black. One person was asked to look at the picture and then describe it to another person, who in turn would describe it to another, and so on. Allport and Postman found that in over half of the chains of people who played this experimental version of the game “telephone” the razor was transferred to the hand of the black man by the time the information had reached the last person. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bias among the individuals was considered to be the cause of this transfer, and this study showed that bias can affect the transfer of information, and in turn the bias of those who hear the information. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Brave New World’s__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> society enforces caste biases through its use of Hypnopaedia. Biases can, however, be good and bad. Arguably positive biases are being created every day through various forms of propaganda. Recycling has been a subject of various types of propaganda for an extended period of time, and cigarette companies have had to start constructing negative ad campaigns against themselves in order to influence people not to buy their products by creating biases against cigarettes. Propaganda is simply the attempt to influence biases within individuals.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Is the world presented by Huxley truly a dystopia? It is arguable. His presentation of the “World State” undeniably places it as such, but if the elements are separated many of the societies decisions could be considered positive. The difference between a utopia and a dystopia is created by the biases the world is evaluated with. To some the world presented by Huxley is a utopia, with the world being a logical arrangement of people that achieves the goal of survival in what they may consider to be the best way. To others, like Huxley himself, the world is the worst possible conclusion for humanity, with individuality lost and everything turned into unavoidable stagnation. Bias is what makes a dystopia a dystopia.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Propaganda is an unavoidable substance. Anyone with a goal for other humans is going to have to use some form of propaganda to accomplish their goals. As a result culture consists entirely of propaganda. People who choose to partake of any element of culture have to remember that the creators of that culture have some reason for doing what they’re doing. Whether it’s an ad trying to get the viewer to buy a product, a politician trying to convince people of their viewpoints (or more frequently that their viewpoint is the same as everyone who’s watching), a professor trying to convince their students of their line of thinking, a pop song trying to get people to perform some new type of ridiculous dance, or a poster trying to convince people to recycle there is a purpose for the creation of that thing and as a result they should be treated as such. For someone to truly be an individual they must recognize that propaganda is everywhere and they must consider the reasons for something’s creation before they let that thing influence their decisions. This paper is also a piece of propaganda. Why was it created?

-note: Both the annotated bibliography and the works cited were made with the aid of NoodleBib. As a result work on them was not recorded...also forgot to put it in here until now. =Annotated Bibliography= Garber, William. “Propaganda Analysis-To What Ends?” //The American Journal of Sociology// 48 (Sept. 1942): 240-245. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. Good source. 6 pages. This piece is a short analysis and criticism of propaganda analysis as a whole. It tries to determine what some of the most likely positive and negative impacts of this analysis would be. He points out the negatives of trying to come up with a formula for controlling mankind and tries to suggest possible ways of making propaganda analysis more useful. In particular he suggest that analysis of propaganda may allow for the discovery of issues with the society it most impacts. The only significant negative of this piece is that it is too focused on propaganda use in war.

Martin, L. John. “Effectiveness of International Propaganda.” //Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science// 398 (Nov. 1971): 61-70. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. Very Good source. 10 pages. This piece is an efficient and accurate analysis of propaganda and its use in other countries. It attempts to determine the reasons that this propaganda may work or not work and what is necessary for the propagandist to know before creating a piece of propaganda. The author does this by analyzing the individual elements of propaganda’s interaction and what the most likely effects of that element are. For example, at one point the author focuses on the audience and how they are most likely to interact with the propaganda. Overall the piece is well sourced and seems highly reputable.

Silverstein, Brett. “Toward a Science of Propaganda.” //Political Psychology// 8 (Mar. 1987): 49-59. //JSTOR//. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. Good source. 11 pages. This piece focuses on the idea of turning propaganda analysis back into a study in and of itself rather than keeping it separated into various disciplines as it is today. The author goes on to describe various ways in which propaganda can influence people, and mentions propaganda that can occur unintentionally. For example, he uses editors who may dislike a certain phrasing that results in a change of meaning that modifies the way the reader will respond to the piece as a whole. This piece covers a broad range of information about propaganda and analyzing propaganda.

=Rough Draft and Research=

--Outline with possible support Intro-General information about propaganda; what is it? thesis: Propaganda is subjective; Brave New World is arguably not that bad...(but I have to remember to make sure not to make clear my actual viewpoint; make it an objective paper) Bnw's treatment of propaganda- Hypnopaedia, total control of the media, not much else, oddly enough We- Introduce and describe We; speak of the world and it's treatment of propaganda. commend on how We is technically written AS a piece of propaganda. Explain how both these novels are in and of themselves propaganda and what their goals are/likely are Explain the reasoning behind real life propaganda' use lenin/stalin's reasoning (leninist propaganda) Relate to novels Why use propaganda? What is to gain? utopia or dystopia? relate to natures of propaganda; aka note the reasons for propaganda and how they apply to the novels themselves

--Possible Outline/Brainstorming: Intro: Propaganda is really awesome and stuff Brave New World treats propaganda like this! We is a piece of propaganda! We is ACTUALLY a piece of propaganda! As is Brave New World! what was the reasoning behind real life propaganda? how does this relate to the novels? what is the positive side of propaganda analysis? what is the negative side? when does propaganda become good/bad Are these books utopias or dystopias or neither? All about presentation and previous experience Same with all propaganda.

--Brainstorming and Notes; About Multiple Topics

Sources: "Toward a Science of Propaganda" http://www.jstor.org/stable/3790986?&Search=yes&term=propaganda&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dpropaganda%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don%26&item=1&ttl=132614&returnArticleService=showFullText Can and should propaganda be deemed a science and what are it's possible consequences...

"We" Technically a piece of propaganda within the world of the novel. Also explores the relationship of propaganda to the people. Acts as a parallel to BNW.

"Propaganda Analysis-To What Ends?" http://www.jstor.org/stable/2769619?&Search=yes&term=analysis&term=propaganda&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dpropaganda%2Banalysis%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=5&ttl=62785&returnArticleService=showFullText1 Fascinating; the reasoning behind the closing down of an organization focused on analyzing propaganda.

"Leninist Propaganda" http://www.jstor.org/stable/2746168?seq=4&Search=yes&term=propaganda&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dpropaganda%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don%26&item=10&ttl=132614&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null Short article about...well. Also has some of the reasoning behind it.

Should work out well...

Note: For various reasons I think I've determined to switch the topic of my essay to another, more thesis based, subject. After attempting to write a first draft based on the current subject I determined the following: 1. While a literary analysis could be interesting, I've done a few of them and it wouldn't be of any challenge to me. I think it would be better to do a paper that is more research dependent and on a subject I'm already interested in. 2. Propaganda is a subject I'm interested in and it still applies to everything I already have. We is (technically) intended as a piece of propaganda (in the story itself) and both of the novels are arguably propaganda for or against a particular take on science. This is interesting to me as it means a thesis based on propaganda can explore what the novels themselves think of propaganda while considering the novels propaganda. 3. Support. While there is enough support for the literary analysis there is more (and more specific) support for various theses about propaganda. Propaganda is also a topic of more interest to me, so research is more interesting and will make the whole process significantly easier and more enjoyable, resulting in a better paper.

My goal: find a large quantity of research by the end of today that applies to my topic, and write a first draft on this new topic tomorrow (depending on how long research takes tonight).

Here are my thoughts on We, a possible source for either comparison or analysis: The relationship between the two dystopias is stunning, with a number of different elements running entirely parallel. The novel was written during the revolution and was the inspiration for 1984 and a possible (though denied) inspiration for Brave New World itself.

A number of different elements of We are directly transitive to Brave New World, with a number of elements (such as plot structure) being arguably similar. I think the two are different enough to justify Huxley's claim that he hadn't read We previously.

Various similarities and differences (to be organized later, if needed) We has a rebel group (non existent in the "Brave New World") and the savages being something a bit different than the "normal" humans. Brave New World rebels are dealt with more efficiently. The people of the One State (We) aren't as thoroughly brain washed. They also aren't twins, but instead simply dress the same. The government in Brave New World doesn't need the "glass walls" (which seems like a blunt parody). There are "religious" ceremonies that relate to actual ceremonies in both, and in both they reference how the old world is out dated and parody elements of "our" time. We focuses on Taylor while Brave New World focuses on Ford (which was consistent in Russia at the time....). I need to re-look at how We treats sexuality and reproduction. More later...

Books Recommended to me as sources: The total art of Stalinism : avant-garde, aesthetic dictatorship, and beyond / by Boris Groys ; translated by Charles Rougle.

How life writes the book [electronic resource] : real socialism and socialist realism in Stalin's Russia / Thomas Lahusen. Studies the process of the creation of a specific novel during the Soviet Realist era. The novel actually won a prize from the government, but is considered to be on all parts miserably boring. However, the author of this book seems to have discovered a "code" written into the novel of some kind. Either very useful or very much not useful.

Stalin and the literary intelligentsia

The Soviet novel : history as ritual / Katerina Clark.

Closer to the masses [electronic resource] : Stalinist culture, social revolution, and Soviet newspapers / Matthew Lenoe. Intro: Focuses on Newspapers (oddly enough) and their impact on the people. More so, though, it focuses on the time and its impact on the Newspaper and how the Newspaper responded. Prior to the "Great Purge" (Great Break) there were a number of newspapers focused on different groups but after it there was only a single paper remaining. Could be interesting/useful.

Notes taken during research and in particular the writing of the Second Draft: Yevgeny's quotes; focus on the new russian prose: “In art the surest way to destroy is to canonize one given form and one philosophy.” “There are books of the same chemical composition as dynamite. The only difference is that a piece of dynamite explodes once, whereas a book explodes a thousand times. “-a piece for an anthology on books

"Propaganda Analysis-To What Ends?": the goals are?

"Leninist Propaganda": denunciation

“Effectiveness of International Propaganda” Things that could be taken: propaganda depends heavily on the pre-disposals of the viewer; a LOT about this; most useful. Just have to find the best quote. propaganda does have an effect of building over time (stalagmite)

“If you don't know where you are going any road will take you there.” Brilliant in its simplicity.

Propaganda and free society: reference and inspirational; but not directly useful in and of itself.

Analysis of antidemocratic propaganda must be made in terms of total social context, not only because this is a more enlightened approach than the piecemeal dissection into sterile rules and tricks, but because only this approach can provide us with effective means of dealing with the disease at its roots. The answer to a propaganda of fear must lie in the removal of the causes of fear. Propaganda appealing to the despairing can find no roots in the hopeful. And I do not, of course, deny the importance of the study of Fascist propaganda as mainly applicable to fascism only. -analysis to what end'

The effectiveness of propaganda is increased if its message fulfills a need or an aspiration of its target and if it agrees with existing values, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, norms-or whatever one would like to call them-of the audience. -effectiveness A liked message has a better chance of being remembered than a disliked one, a selected message better than one that the audience chanced onto